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Sewer rates rising By Kelly J. Kaczala Press News Editor kkaczala@presspublications.com
Giving thanks at the East Toledo Senior Center Jo Kandik, Mary Jean Schimmel, and Jane Fitch peruse the abundant deserts. "The food was wonderful and the deserts were tremendous. We have a good bunch of cooks," said Fitch. The Thanksgiving meal was free for seniors and only $2.50 for all others. "This is the first year that we've prepared all of the food. We normally do a potluck but our new nutrition program has allowed us to do this," said East Toledo Senior Center Director Mary Wolff. "We supply the whole meal and we asked the seniors to bring the deserts." (Press photos by Stephanie Szozda)
Oregon council on Monday is expected to raise the sewer rate to pay for Phase I of the wastewater treatment plant improvement project. The city has planned on raising rates for the last few years, but just recently established the higher amount. The project is in accordance with the city’s EPA National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, which requires the city to increase the secondary treatment capacity of the wastewater treatment plant from 24 million gallon per day to 36 million gallons per day to eliminate secondary treatment bypasses and sanitary sewer collection system overflows during wet weather. The project is being constructed in two phases over the next five years. Phase I is nearly completed. The $16 million project is being funded by a combination of a grant, loans, and city funds. “This ordinance is needed to establish a capital improvements charge to pay the debt on Phase I of the Wastewater Treatment Plant Secondary Treatment Improvements Project,” said Public Service Director Paul Roman at a committee of the whole meeting last week. “Council is aware of the project, which we have been working on since 2009.” The completion of Phase I is expected in three months, he added. “We will be required to start paying on the loans in 2015. The capital improvements charge will go on the sewer bills starting in January,” he said. The sewer bill will go up by $8.58 per quarter, which would be $34.32 per year, he said. The rate will be charged to all sewer customers over a 20 year period to pay off the loans.
“The debt charge is simply the annual loan payment for a particular project divided by the average wastewater volume. We came up with a cost per volume. In this case, we used 1,000 cubic feet, which is what our billing structure is based on,” said Roman. There will be a second charge for Phase 2 also in 2015. “Our rates right now are the lowest in Northwest Ohio. And even with this wastewater treatment plant improvement project, with both phases and charges to the rate structure, we will still be the lowest in Northwest Ohio,” said Roman. The Water and Sewer Committee held a meeting to discuss the capital improvement charge just before the committee of the whole meeting on Monday. “It was a really good meeting,” said Councilmember Kathleen Pollauf, chairperson of the committee. “[The improvement] is mandated by the EPA. It also serves quite a few benefits to the area. Yes, there are charges that concern quite a few people. But this is something that needs to be done.” Councilman Tim Zale said the project’s cost is less than expected. Continued on page 2
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Lake
Township asked to not intervene in rate case By Larry Limpf News Editor news@presspublicatins.com The Lake Township trustees were asked Tuesday to reconsider their decision to intervene in a rate case FirstEnergy has filed with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. Hans Rosebrock, an economic development manager for FirstEnergy, said the company’s rate plan filed in August is designed to “help shore up” the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Plant and two other plants. The plan, if approved by the PUCO, would cover electric service for consumers from June 2016 through May 2019 and set a 15-year agreement between FirstEnergy Solutions, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy, for
purchasing power through Davis-Besse, the W.H. Sammis Plant and Ohio Valley Electric Corp. units. The utilities would sell power into the wholesale market and when wholesale prices exceed costs, consumers would receive a credit; when wholesale prices are less than costs, consumers would pay a charge. Rosebrock said the company is projecting the “cost-based” arrangement would save consumers $2 billion over 15 years. The trustees took no action after his presentation. In September, the trustees approved intervening in the rate case as a member of the Northwest Ohio Aggregation Coalition, which includes about a dozen townships and municipalities in Wood and Lucas counties that formed as a group to purchase
gas and electrical service. Prior to the vote to intervene, Richard Welling, a trustee, read a message from Tom Hays, a former township solicitor who’s been working with NOAC, in which Hays contended consumers would “financially backstop” the output of the three power plants if the plan is approved. Hays wrote FirstEnergy is proposing to buy power from FirstEnergy Solutions on a “cost plus basis” and then resell the electricity into the wholesale market, with any profits or losses to be passed onto consumers. “Thus, consumers are guaranteeing the operation of facilities owned by FES for 15 years regardless of market or regulatory conditions,” Hays wrote, adding it defeats the “notion of competition.”
Rosebrock said the plan will help protect consumes against long-term retail price volatility. He said an average residential customer using 750 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month could expect to pay on average about $3.50 more during the first full year of the plan. However, with expected increases in retail prices over the ensuing years, customers would then receive a credit on their bills. In other business, the trustees approved a renewal of health insurance for township employees with Medical Mutual. Melanie Bowen, who chairs the board of trustees, said the township will pay about $45,420 more annually for the coverage – an increase of about 15 percent. About 30 employees are covered by the plan, she said.
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